Retirement

ANYONE MOVED BACK TO THEIR "HOMETOWN" TO RETIRE OR LEFT FLORIDA OR WANT TO MOVE TO FLORIDA?  🤔  WELL, I AM LIVING IN "BOTH" FLORIDA AND VIRGINIA WHILE I "VERY SLOWLY" MOVE BACK TO FLORIDA. RETIRED!  😎 FROM THE ARTICLE - SEE ARTICLE FOR MORE. Is the Rust Belt Right for Your Affordable Retirement? Older industrial cities tout low-cost housing, revitalized downtowns to draw back retirees with local roots. By Michael Anft, AARP. Published March 13, 2024. When a couple of financial adviser Ryan Carney’s clients grew tired of retirement living in Florida last year, they picked up stakes and returned to their old hometown, the Sunshine State’s polar opposite: Buffalo, New York. Low living costs, well-established health care facilities, a downtown makeover and proximity to Niagara Falls have helped make the Rust Belt city on Lake Erie more attractive to retirees like them, despite its lake-effect snowstorms and subzero temperatures. https://w

In 2006 I converted a 401k via a 72T mechanism that put the proceeds into a variable annuity (VA). I have been drawing a monthly benefit from that account to date. I was recently advised that I have the opportunity to convert the variable annuity to a life annuity by relinquishing the balance in the account. If I do this I will receive a monthly benefit equal to or greater than the one I am currently receiving. If I don't convert and the account goes to zero due to withdrawls and/or market conditions then the account ceases and I get nothing. There is no choice ofcourse and I will be conerting to the life annuity. However, I have two concerns/questions relating to RMD: 1 - The Variable Annuity (VA) has been accepted as satisfying the RMD which I started in 2023 (the year I became 73). If I convert to the Life Annuity (LA) will that also satisfy the RMD (the amount will be sufficient). The RMD during the VA was based on the fact that the account was originally a deferred retirement

AARP has represented and helped senior citizens in many different categories over the years.  AARP has assisted in major role in Washington to help persuading our politicians to continue helping our American senior citizens.  But there is one area I don't think AARP has considered nor the politicians in Washington DC .  As my wife and I have reached the age of 65, it has become extremely burdensome to carry her student loan payments.  Yes, my wife cumulate the student loans later in life and she went back to school and graduated with her degree in 1997, but still carries the student loan payments of over, $400 a month.   With Washington giving away money to help young folks with children and stimulus money benefits in lump sums to millions of Americans help them through the hard times of this pandemic, there is still a need to help senior citizens that are carrying the student loans into the retirement years.  Theref

I know oldsters beyond my age got essentially a free ride, but I am at the leading edge of people who have massive student debt with little chance of paying this off. When will AARP take note and begin working for relief?

401(k) hardship withdrawals are on the rise, but NEW employer emergency savings accounts could help stem tide. By Tamara E. Holmes. Published February 28, 2024. https://www.aarp.org/retirement/planning-for-retirement/info-2024/retirement-plan-emergency-expenses.html

🗣  By Donna Fuscaldo,   AARP. Published September 05, 2023. I just read this article! Comments are welcome. I will comment below. https://www.aarp.org/retirement/planning-for-retirement/info-2023/signs-you-are-not-ready-to-retire.html 

What do you like? What do you dislike (and what would you change)?

When I retired I began reading academic publications that were relevant to "retirement." I created a free resource... Designing Your Retirement is a free instructional manual to help retirees have happy, healthy, and fulfilling retirement. At 136 pages and containing more than 60 references, the Designing Your Retirement Manual is a data-driven methodology that will help retirees create the retirement they want. It can be downloaded, for free, in PDF and EPUB format from:https://ihaveanidea.us/designingyourretirement/  It can also be downloaded from Apple Books (free) and Amazon (for a nominal fee.) Hayward Zwerling, M.D.IHaveAnIdea.us

I don't see anything on the subject posted here, but to my understanding when you have no one to take care of your final wishes, you apparently hire an attorney for this (Your executor).   To what kind of take on the estate is one looking for them to take, about a third?   I believe if it goes this route the attorney is entitled to a higher rate of your estate than the standard executor fee. 

I was completing the retirement calculator at https://www.aarp.org/retirement/retirement-calculator/. After answering the last question on the page about our expense expectations in the future it wasn't very clear how to proceed.  The only option was to scroll further down the page where there was an option to continue after advertisements.  I clicked on this and then there was some message about donating clothing.  I continued again and then received a pop from a bogus Windows Defender telling me my computer is frozen and to call a phone number for assistance.  The message also stated not to restart my computer as I could lose my information.  Well, I wasn't calling the phone number and my computer is fine after I restarted. Rather annoyed that after logging into AARP and trying to complete the calculator I ran into this issue.  Also found the page I was on before the subsequent bogus message to be confusing

With about 2 year left on a 20 year policy, we know the rates will go up - quite a bit being 68 in 2024. What alternatives do we have? Take out smaller policies of a smaller denomination?Can I sell our policy and cash it out like shown on TV?Renew the policy as my current age verse 70? Anyone had to think about this and what they came across in assessing this type of scenario? Thanks.

As the market continues to experience volatility, people in or nearing retirement are seeking ways to protect their savings. Fixed income investments and annuities can provide a stable source of income and help mitigate the risks associated with market fluctuations. Fixed income investments such as bonds, CDs, and money market accounts offer predictable returns. While they may not generate the same level of growth as stocks, they provide a steady stream of income that can help cover essential expenses in retirement.Annuities are contracts with insurance companies that provide guaranteed income payments for a set period of time or for the rest of your life. Annuities can offer a number of benefits, such as:Guaranteed income: No matter how the market performs, you will receive the agreed-upon income payments.Tax-deferred growth: The earnings on your annuity grow tax-deferred until you start receiving payments.Death benefit: If you pass away before you have received all of your annui